Why spend Fender Jim Root money when you could go Squier?

A modern style Tele that brings the thunder.

I was inspired to write this one per a discussion I had on Twitter about this guitar.

The Squier Contemporary Telecaster RH (see current listings here) looks like an odd duck in the Squier lineup - until you realize this is the next best thing to the Fender Jim Root Telecaster without having to spend Fender money to get it.

Firstly, RH does not mean Right-Handed, even though it is. RH means Rail Humbucker, which is what is loaded into the Squier on the bridge side, meaning it's technically an HH. However, if you've never experienced a pickup with rails in it instead of pole pieces, the immediately advantage is absolutely no drop in volume no matter how hard you play.

I'll explain.

When you pluck a string, it obviously vibrates. The harder you pluck, the wider the vibration gets. When the string vibrates widely enough from very hard plucking, the strings (particularly the wound ones) can get away from the pole pieces they hover over, causing a momentary volume loss. Pickups with rails don't have this issue. Every pluck, no matter how wide the vibration gets, never has a volume loss. The sound gets louder with harder play, just as you'd expect it to.

Second, there is a belly cut on the rear, meaning the body won't cut into you during play when seated or standing.

Third, there is a sculpted heel on the back for very easy higher fret access.

You also get jumbo frets, sealed tuners, graphite nut, and although you can barely see it from the photo, knurled flat-top metal knobs (those are the best Tele style knobs).

This Squier is a modernist Telecaster for sure and is made for hard rock and metal.

My style of guitar? Not at all, but I'm glad it's in the Squier lineup. At first I didn't really get why it exists, but then when I compared it to the Fender Jim Root model, then I understood. I'm not saying the RH is the Squier version of the Root Tele, because it's not. But for a rock/metal specific Tele, this Squier delivers in all the right ways and needs no upgrades at all.

Three colors for this guitar. Pearl White (seen above), Shoreline Gold and Gunmetal Metallic. I actually do like the gold one. You wouldn't think blacked out hardware would work with the gold, but it actually does.

Published 2022 Aug 11